As our long time members know, I'm a fan of the Browning BDM. Here was a 9mm pistol designed to meet everyones needs.

First, it was accurate and reliable, just what you would expect from Browning. It felt great when you picked it up and it was slim and concealable. Here are a few photos of this complete failure.

This is my BDM next to my 225. Notice that the BDM has a longer sight radius than the 225.

Here they are from the top. The BDM is significantly slimmer than the 225. Yet when introduced, it was a double stack mag holding 15 rounds.

And these are the grips.

The BDM was unusual because there was a switch on the side that let you switch from norma pistol mode (DA/SA) to a revolver mode (DAO).

Here is pistol mode racked.

And revolver mode racked.

You can see the little switch with it's P or R positions right above the slide lock. In safe mode it would drop the hammer to half cock if in the pistol mode. In either mode, it locked the firing pin and disconnected the trigger. The safety was down for on, up for off.

The BDM was ambi-dextrous. There were safeties on both sides and the mag release could be operated with either hand and there was no mag safety like the HPs have. The grips were also ambi with thumb rests on both side. It really does feel as good in the left hand as it does in the right.

Here is the sight picture

The rear sight can be drift adjusted or changed out easily. It is locked in place with a set screw,

While the front sight is held in place with a roll pin.

So here was a pistol that could be DA/SA or DAO by just turning a switch, that was slim as a BHP and very concealable, with a long sight radius and sights that could easily be changed or adjusted and that was ambi-dextrous right out of the box. It is fast, accurate, reliable and from a company with a history that people really trusted. And it never caught on.

I to am a big fan of the BDM (I have two), I bought my first on after trading in my Beretta 92 Compact. The BDM just fit better in my small hands and the highcap magazine capacity was just what I was looking for. Now I own and carry this BDM in a Blade-tech OWB holster and luckily bought many highcap and standard ten round magazines early on, while they were still readily available.

You forgot to mention the best feature of this newly designed pistol, the simplicity of its function: The slide release, decocker and safety all operate off of the same lever. Simple design, ease of use and it incorporates all of the safety features to make this a perfect carry pistol.

A good friend used one for years in local IPSC matches. I loved shooting it, and felt it was a great gun that people missed the boat on. It was the perfect launching platform for the 9x19 and the slimness and pointability of the gun is still unmatched.

Jim Richardson, I have owned a BDM since 12/29/1997 and I consider it to be an excellent pistol that was doomed to die due to its caliber. Due to its caliber? Yes, it was a 9mm entry in a 40 S&W police environment. With this said, my BDM is second only to my Walther P88 when it comes to accurate 9mms. It is a reliable, good looking , and only has one pit fall. The price of High Cap magazines will choke a maggot. Regards, Richard

Has anyone had a chance to fire the new PRO Series from Browning? I think it will be great success as the next generation following the unfortunate disapearance of the BDM. I have been drooling over these handguns on Browning's website for over year and just last week finally found ONE that Gander Mountain had on display. I immediatley purchased it. I could not ask for a better carry weapon. I have fired 150 rounds so far, and every single shot had the same quality feel and accuracy that I have come to expect from Browning. Definitely a must have for your collection

It is so nice to see posts from others who appreciate the BDM. I think it has really go to be about as perfect a handgun as can be made. It fits my hand perfectly, points naturally, shoots where it points, conceals easily, is not too heavy to wear all day long and is easy to field strip and clean.

I bought mine in a private party transaction over 10 years ago. I only paid $100 for it because it did not work. The seller told me that to the best of his knowledge he was the 3rd or 4th owner of the gun and no one had been able to fix it.

I boxed it up and sent it off to Browning with a letter asking for an estimate of the cost to repair it. I explained in the letter that I was not the original owner and that I was not claiming any sort of warranty.

Two weeks to the day after I sent it off the gun came back from Browning fully repaired and included a letter of apology explaining that the problem with the gun had been a factory defect and that there was no charge for the repair.

Now that's customer service!

It has been absolutely trouble free since that time and has become my favorite "fun gun" as well as having a secure place in my stable of concealed carry guns.

I have not kept count of all of the rounds I have put through the BDM, but I know it is a bunch, at least 5000 and probably a lot more. It has never failed me yet.

I also like the fact that the safety is backwards (up to fire instead of down). I don't know why but to me that just adds to the cool factor.

I just wanted everyone who love the BDM to know that I found a company in California who manufactures 15 round mags for the BDM. I ordered 3, and while I haven't shot too many rounds through them, they all functioned flawlessly. They were very reasonably priced, they don't have the visual indicators in them like the factory (small complaint really). I've heard bad things about Pro-Mag jamming, so I knew I didn't want to buy from them.